Crest Defined
by Hawk Goggles
Summary: No matter what kind of path the children found themselves walking down, their crests could always define who they were as people. Those traits kept them strong, no matter how bleak things got. They could rely on them as much as they could rely on each other. Now they all find themselves being assaulted by their deepest darkness, and they need those traits more than ever before.
1. Solitary Courage

**Solitary Courage**

"You shouldn't be surprised to find yourself alone," a young voice chimed. "It's always been like this, from the very start."

The one they were speaking to didn't respond.

"I mean, _we_ were the one able to contact the digimon in the first place." the small child continued. "They came through _our_ computer. _We_ were so surprised." she couldn't hold back her smile.

"Then, years later, they came for us again. Just like before, we were swept along without putting up any resistance. We were captured in the end… but then a miracle happened. The enemy was defeated, yet the story still doesn't end."

The one the floor tensed at the memories.

"No, next the eight year old, little girl has to go off on her own to save a whole other world. It wasn't good enough that she managed to save her town, and her family single handily, but now another world. We… no, I had already lost Wizarmon to the last enemy, and now I had to go through that again and again… by myself."

A berated heap of a person trembled on the floor.

"But that's not even the end off it. Years after that, I was haunted by other worldly nightmares. Haunted by monsters I can't even comprehend… and there was nothing anyone else could do about it. There was nothing **I** could do about it… Not without more sacrifices."

The brunette on the floor became still. It was as if the words bounced off of them painlessly. It didn't go unnoticed by the girl.

"Have you finally given up, because I could use a nice long break as well. It's best if we just did nothing in this darkness. Just like before, no one is here for you. Not mommy or daddy… and big brother is just as unreliable."

"…" the person on the ground mouthed a name wordlessly.

"Still trying to call out for help?" wondered the girl. "You brother won't come to save you, he never has."

"…mon."

The young girl scowled down at her target. "I don't know why you're still calling out. No digimon will come to save you this time. Who would risk their life for someone who can't even do anything alone Without the courage to even believe in themselves."

"Tailmon…" The young woman uttered. She managed to look up the face the younger girl's glare. "Tailmon, would risk her life for me, just as I would for her. Just like she did when we fought off Myotismon, and when we went to the digital world to face the dark masters, and again when Dagomon called out to me."

The younger girl's face scrunched up at the defining nature of her older self. "That doesn't change the fact that you resent that world for taring you away from your family. For thrusting you into the unknown by yourself. For relying on you and only you… even now!"

"You're right," the older one agreed. "Back then, I was extremely scared and upset about being alone. But, Tailmon was there to lift my spirits whenever things got to tough for me. When that wasn't enough, I relied on the other digimon we met along the way for support. Even then, with all of that, I still had some resentment and fear left in my heart. That's how Dagomon could make contact me after all."

The young girl kept quiet as the older counterpart reviewed her past.

"But something else was there as well. That was the courage my brother and parents had given me before I went to the digital world. Even though Tailmon and I had just saved the city, going off to a whole new world with just her was frightening. Even so, my brother encouraged me and my parents to let me go. Even when we started floating towards the sky and they didn't want to let go my hands while crying, they sent both of us off with a smile. Those faces still give me the courage to face any obstetrical, even my own worries and fears."

The girl could almost snarl at the young lady's defiance. As the older girl spoke, she had also become engulfed in a blinding white light. It was too much for the smaller one to handle. The light washed over the small child and illuminated the area.

The young woman adjusted her eyes after the blinding light died down. She looked at her now empty surroundings. She was alone in a fairly large bricked room. She managed to get to her feet just in time to hear her name being called.

"Hikari!" A small purple striped, white cat raced to the girl though a bright portal.

"Tailmon!" Hikari, hugged her digital companion. "Do you have any idea of where we are?"

"How would I know? You're the one who disappeared," The small digimon countered. "You're lucky that random light lead me to you.

The girl's memories of her day's events were fuzzy. She remembered being in the digital world with Tailmon, but everything after that was filled with hazy darkness.

"I guess we're somewhere in the digital world," the brunette started. "It at least feels like the digital world," she tried to reason.

Tailmon was about to explain how she had seen her disappear, but she halted after catching a sound coming from one of the walls. The feline digimon left her partners hand and ran up to the door.

"What do you hear?"

Tailmon closed her eyes and focused, "Someone's coming."

"Whoever took me must be coming back, or the guards."

Tailmon kept trying to pick up the sounds from beyond the stony wall. "No, guards don't normally run like that..."

A feminine scream soon became audible to the young lady, "I guess they don't normally scream like that either."

"That sounds like trouble," Tailmon turned towards the door. "It seems we weren't the only one's captured."

"We have to hurry and save that digimon, and any others that are trapped here." Hikari pulled out her digivice, "alright, lets get that door opened," the girl commanded.

"Please, I don't need to digivolve to break down this door," Tailmon smashed down the wooden door with only one fierce blow.

As the two rushed outside, they were greeted to a human girl running away from a digital monsters. They recognized one but had never seen the other. The long haired girl ran down the hall straight towards the two with a big smile on her face.

The girl grasped Hikari in a large hug, "I'm so glade that someone else is here as well."

Hikari was slightly thrown off by the sight of another human being in the digital world along with her. Her mind raced with questions, but they were pushed aside for what needed to be done that instant.

"I'm glad your alright as well," the short haired girl spoke, "but we need to get to safety now." Hikari took the girl by the hand and started to sprint down the hall. The larger monster looked as if it was on pursuit of them while the other tried to hold it back. She had never seen such a monster in her eight years of exploring the digital world. Tailmon joined the defending digimon fended the beast off, as they made their turn.

Hikari had no idea what was going on, but she knew she had to do her best to protect those who she knew here in danger. She was sure that's what her brother and parents back home, would want. 

* * *

**AN: So here's a new story, just… because. I started this story because I wanted to practice writing shorter chapters. As for the actual contents, I aimed once again try my hand at angst, and once again I've failed.**

 **I was mostly inspired by seeing so many stories tackle the kids' shortcomings and exaggerating them. I also wanted to draw focus to those issues as well but I also want to focus on the fact that these are children who _have_ saved a world and overcame adversity before.**

 **The next theme would be, how would I show those strengths and weaknesses. Well I would use the conveniently supplied character traits know as the crests. Then I thought, "hey, let's shake things up a bit and switch the focus of the traits."**

 **So first, but defiantly not least, we deal with Hikari. Why? Because she was the first one to come to me when writing this, and without a doubt she's set the pace and elements of this story. It was also really easy to just give her courage to focus on. As for all the other weird stuff going on, the only excuse I have is that I'm thinking about and working on some AU stuff, so that's also shaped this story.**

 **But even so courage was a perfect match for Hikari because she is naturally very brave. It helps even more that she doesn't think her self to be so. For a character who isn't as built up as the others, she's still deep enough to do something with and straightforward enough to not have to think to hard about.**

 **Anyway, I hope all of you will support me in this new, (shorter) story and have enjoyed this first chapter. Like always, leave a comment of any kind, form a review, to just telling me how you feel about the story. Who will be up next? Keep reading to find out.**


	2. Mature Knowledge

**Mature Knowledge**

"Geez what exactly did I do to deserve this?" a lanky preteen spoke. "To be shoved in this creepy dark nebula with my worthless older self."

The older boy in question glanced up to his younger self. He wondered if he always held a disappointed look on his face.

"Don't go looking at me like that, I get that enough from dad and the rest of the family."

The older boy wondered what kind of pitiful face he was making right now.

"Well, I can't blame you for a look that's naturally been ingrained, can I? I mean, even before coming to the digital world, you always lacked self confidence. It didn't help that you couldn't even hold the group together, and that was even before you all got separated… the first time. The second time when you actually lost someone was when you hit rock bottom. At least you took solace in the fact that everyone else was finally as worse off as we were."

The taller boy clenched his fists, and grit his teeth, in knowing that what was being spoken was the truth. Even if only slightly, he still regrets having felt that way.

"And while we all somehow manged to work things out, everything came to a head when we got back to the real world to fight Vamdemon. You ran into our brother and while giving you some good advice, he also planted a nagging thought in the back of your head."

The area started to become darker to the taller boy. He could hardly make out his younger self. Was his heart starting to blacken?

"He told you that you could choose to be anything you wanted. That was suppose to take pressure off of you, but you used that as an excuse to run away the first chance you got. To think you spent the rest of summer trying to find your, 'true self.' You already knew who your, 'true self,' was. It's a kid with average grades and is week to pressure. Someone who couldn't possible be a doctor. Isn't that right?"

The older boy's mouth quivered, "you're right," he spoke for the first time. "It might be impossible for me to become a doctor. When Shin told me that I had a choice, of course I thought of giving up. It always keeps popping up from time to time… But I still haven't given up yet."

"And you don't call, 'this,' giving up?" The younger boy waved his arms around.

"No! This place may be surrounding me with my own fear and insecurities, but that doesn't mean I have to stay here. That's something I learned in the digital world. I also know that I didn't willingly come here by own will, so I can't waste time wallowing in forced self pity. I have to find the others and help them. I'm their senior. Even if's only by a year, I have to share my own experiences to help them just like my brother did for me."

"Your, 'experience?'" the child glared. "The only thing you can teach them is how to be a failure."

"That's fine by me. As long as I can be an example for them. Be something they can learn from. They've done that for me, just as much as I have for them. Even if it's awkward, they're still relying one me." With his final deceleration, the dark space around the older boy suddenly vanished, along with his younger self.

The teenager looked around in befuddlement. He was in a fairly large room that was dimly lit by the moon light coming through the barred window. From just coming out of pure darkness, it didn't take his eyes anytime to adjust to the light. He quickly picked up on something in the far off corner reflecting the moonlight.

The boy got up and moved towards the beacon. He quickly realized that it was a cage, and that his partner was laying inside of it.

"Gomamon!" The boy yelled.

The small seal-like digital monster roused from his slumber. "Jou?" it looked up slowly. "Jou!"

"Are- are you alright?" Jou managed to blurt out.

"Other than being stuck in the cage and a little tired, I'm alright."

Jou looked around the room and found a stone about the same size as his palm. He slammed the rock against the cage's lock until it broke off, freeing his partner.

Gomamon waddled out into freedom, "great thinking Jou, but don't you think you might have hit the cage a bit too hard."

The young man, palmed at his numbing hand, "No way. I'm pretty sure I didn't bruise _every_ bone in my hand."

The seal like creature released a chuckle, "I don't see you for a while and you manage to gain a sense of humor."

"I learned from the best, didn't I?"

"That, you did."

After a quick reunion, the two managed to get the door to their cell opened. Jou peered out of the doorway to make sure the coast was clear. He stepped out of the door with Gomamon in arm, and looked at the hallway that extend into darkness on both sides.

Both him and Gomamon decided that the opposite direction of the other was the right way to go, so they found themselves at a standstill. In the short lull, their ears picked up a faint sound. Something was flying their way from their left.

A blur of white rushed past their vision. It was so fast that the only other thing the two could make out was it's bold, red wings. They both shared a look to see if the other could make out what had just pasted them by. Before either could say anything, the loud noise they had heard before was getting closer.

A large digimon erupted from the darkness carrying one of their friends. The red head on the flying monster extended their hand, and Jou absentmindedly grabbed it just as they swooped by. There were too many questions running through his mind the he was practically running on autopilot. He calmed down and settled himself and Gomamon on the digimon and hoped that his other friends would be this easy to find.

* * *

 **AN: It was Jou's turn this chapter. Have to admit that Jou's not a character I think about a lot of the time. I mean, I think about him enough, just not as much as certain other characters. That being said Jou's one of the best characters in the show.**

 **Each of the kids have varying degrees to their problems but all of them are propagated by all of them over thinking things and psyching themselves out. Jou is the king of this. Jou's faults are worrying about the expectations of others, and he settles it by finally doing things his own way, when he went to go find Yamato.**

 **So when putting in the categories of this story, I realized that I had inadvertently started writing a mystery. Never thought I'd end up here really. Like I said it started because of other AU shenanigans, but I'm glad I'll be able to write these characters in a slightly different way. Some will be more, drastic, than others but that's the fun of writing an AU.**

 **As for the mystery bits, they just kind of happened by themselves. When I'm writing, I'm just chuckling at all of the cliches I'm using, and how transparent they might be.**

 **Last time I wrote about how a bunch of fics focus on the children's shortcomings, and that's what they mostly base their characterization around. This time, let's talk about how their crests are handled in the same way. "Child of Courage, Child of Honesty." I'm trying to distance them from their crests being seen as roles to more so just one facet to their personality. The best part of adventure was how they shared their crests between each other. It placed importance on how _all_ of those traits helped _everyone_ grow. I want to show that off more than anything else in this story.**

 **As always I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and leave a comment of any kind. Who was the one to help out Jou and Gomamon? Who will be next to show up? Both will be answered, next chapter.**


	3. Hopeful Thinking

**Hopeful Thinking**

"To think you'd find yourself in this kind of predicament," a voice mocked from the never ending shadow.

The one being spoken to rose from their slumber to wonder how they could speak without opening their mouth. They opened their eyes to find their own face staring back at them. It couldn't have been a mirror, unlike their double, they weren't smiling.

"Now, now; even if we're in this dark place, there's no need to look so down. Well, if I were you, I wouldn't be able to help it." The voice kept up it's mocking tone. It watched as a look of confusion crossed the other's face. "Don't get me wrong, I am you… but a better you. A you who knows better than hoping for things that will never happen."

"I still don't…" The real one muttered in confusion.

"I'm the darkness inside of your heart."

That managed to catch the real's attention. "That's not true."

"Oh, but it is. What do you think happens to all of those bad emotions when you stop feeling them? They manage to bury their way deep into your heart, waiting to pop back up again." An unsettling smile crossed the doubles face.

"I mean, after coming back from the digital world, we haven't gotten any closer to our mother. Our father is still too busy to spend time with his family." The truth to her words visibly stung the original.

"So what?" the original shot back. "They still love me and each other."

"Yeah, that strained and awkward diner we had a few days ago was lovely," the copy dripped with sarcasm. "We help mom cook for once, and all of dad's food gets cold because something came up last minute."

"We still sat together when he got home that night. We still spent time together," the real girl shot back.

"And you still had a nagging feeling in the back of your mind. A feeling that things wouldn't change, no matter how hard you tried."

The real girl looked down in defeat. She couldn't lie to herself, she was still frustrated a bit with her parents.

"Mom still doesn't like us running around, and we're no good a flower arrangements. Dad's still never around much. You hardly spend time with the others, who are probably in danger right now as well. Well, it's not like you could ever do anything by yourself in the first place. You don't work well with the others around either. Not with the Dark Masters, not with Vamdemon, and especially not Devimon."

The red headed original couldn't stand it anymore. She curled up her legs and grabbed her knees. She wished she had her hat so she could at least try to hide herself better. She tried to shut the voice out of her mind, but words kept attacking her relentlessly.

"Weak," key words kept slipping by the girl's defenses, "coward, unreliably, _heartless_."

The original was just about to give up until she heard something that wasn't an insult.

"…"

It was barely audible but she could make it out.

"…"

A familiar voice that soothed the girl's heart. It was only one word but it was enough to bring her heart back from it's breaking point. The original rose her head above her knees and stood up. She looked her double in the eyes and took a deep breath.

"I don't know if you're really me or not, but if you are, then you are the worst part of myself," the girl calmly declared. "You're right about all of my insecurities. About mom and dad, about the others, and about what happened in our adventure in the digital world. Yet, if you were really the better me, you would still want to go help your friends. You would still want your family to spend more time together."

The clone reeled back in frustration. "I'm telling you I'm better because I don't care about any of that worthless stuff. It's those worries that make you weak."

"Even if I throw them away, and become stronger; if I don't care, then what would be the point of having that strength," the real girl fought back. "I want to be stronger for the people I care about. I want to help them as much as they've helped me. I believe that everyone around me can find haplessness. I hope that our relationships will keep growing stronger. I will always have that hope, because I love my family and friends."

"Love and hope…?" the clone was clearly unconvinced, but she wasn't the one that had to be. "Fine, hang onto that love and hope and see how far it can get you," the fake girl started to disappear into the darkness. "I can't wait to see who you'll lose next."

With that, the clone and the darkness vanished from around the girl. The red head stood up and looked around for the voice that had called out for her. Her eyes scanned the small room until she glanced a dark corner. Pink and blue feathers caught her eye.

"Piyomon," The girl rushed over to her chained partner. She cradled her digimon's head in her arms.

The bird like digimon, opened her eyes to looked up at her human friend. "I'm so glad to see you again, Sora."

"Me too," Sora looked down at the chains around her partner's feet. "Let's see if we can get you out of here.

After a few attacks, Piyomon was freed from her bindings. The two sat in the room thinking up their next move. They wanted to move as quickly as possible but Sora wanted to make sure they would be ready for any surprises.

"So… do you have any idea on how you got here, Sora?" Piyomon asked.

"No…" The girl touched her head as she tried to recall the events that got her in this predicament. "You would think I would remember trying to get back to the digital world. It's been six years since we all left. It's not like we've given up on trying to see you all again, but to be thrust into danger all of a sudden is a bit much."

"Aw, I wish you could actually have fun in the digital world, instead of saving it all of the time."

"I'm sure we can have fun after all of this is over, Piyomon. What about you; how did you get here?"

The pink and blue bird digimon mimicked her partner's thinking pose. "I don't remember much either. All of us were-"

The child sized bird was cut off by an explosion that came from outside of their door. The two girls looked at the door in anticipation. Piyomon quickly got to her feet, while Sora clutched at where her digivice should have been. The door started to dent inward towards them. It took only tree impacts for the door to fall to the ground and reveal the one for it's down fall.

The girls were greeted by the sight of a white and purple striped digimon standing before her. Sora had never seen any cat like digimon like it before, but it seemed to pack a lot of power in it's small body.

"Tailmon, was there someone in there?" a voice called from outside the door. "We can't hold this digimon off by ourselves."

The voice sounded familiar to Sora, but she couldn't put her finger on who it was.

"I found them." the digital kitty yelled back. "Its a girl with a Piyomon." Tailmon could hear her partner starting to make her way towards the room.

"That's great- Ahhh!" the girl's scream was quickly fallowed by the sound of a wall tearing down.

Dust quickly spilled into the room and the white cat digimon turned around in worry. "Hikari!" she yelled before she bolted out of the room, presumably to get to her partner.

Sora was trying her best to pick up on the details that had quickly bombarded her, but her mind halted at the name of Tailmon's partner. Could that have really been the Hikari she knew, Taichi's little sister. But that couldn't be the case. Hikari was…

"Nooo…" another feminine wailed for the outside.

Sora knew exactly who's voice that belonged to. The red head pushed all the jumbled thoughts out of he mind and focused on the thing in front of her. She and Piyomon rushed out of the door and into the cloud of dust. They scanned the area until they found their worrying comrade cradling their fallen partner. The girl's eyes widened in horror at the digimon before them.

It's form seemed to be an insult to more than one of the chosen children. Who would have formed such a monster and why would they?

Sora could feel a lump forming at the back of her throat at the sight of the mismatched monster in front of her. Her hand once again hovered instinctively to where her digivice used to be. Where it should be. She grit her teeth at the circumstances and lowered her head in frustration.

Piyomon however took to the air and distracted the monster. Sora watched as her little partner, who couldn't evolve fight off the horrid amalgamation. The girl couldn't help but grip her chest at the sight of Piyomon trying to protect her and the others.

Sora could feel her heart beat faster with each passing second. Skipping every time Piyomon barely managed to get out of the way of an attack. The more Piyomon fought, the more her own spirit started to flare up. Piyomon hadn't given up yet so why should she? So what if she didn't have her digivice or crest anymore. That didn't mean they should stop trying to protect their friends.

Sora looked up and kept her eyes focused on her partner. A light red started radiating from her thumping chest. She wouldn't give up hope. She cared about everyone else to much to even think about it.

* * *

 **AN: Sora's turn. Sora was interesting in that her problem was misinterpreted but stems from the fact that her mother wasn't open with her. Her heart was there but the talk was handled poorly on the mother's part. That's what make her asking Piyomon if Sora hated her such a good part. It's that taciturn personality that also let's Sora misinterpret her parent's relationship.**

 **Writing how to display each of the children's problems is really rough. You have to try to make them different while still basically keeping them the same. Execution is the up most important part. If I can make it just a bit more different then I've succeeded.**

 **As for the mystery this time, I've laid out a bit clues on how things fit together, or rather, how they don't fit. The other chosen with Hikari was originally supposed to find Sora but then I realized the mystery I set up, so I changed the focus to Hikari.**

 **Once again another chapter has come and gone. I hope you enjoyed it and will leave a comment. What's the deal with the time difference between Sora and Hikari, and how will Sora fight without her digivice. Some of that will be answered in the next chapter… kind of.**


	4. Solid Reliability

**Solid Reliability**

The young teen glared at the shade in front of him. He had just been minding his own business on his way home from soccer practice when he was suddenly swallowed by darkness. He knew that this defiantly had to be the work of the digital world. It also had to be to be the scheme of some evil digimon.

"Well look at you. Aren't you a grumpy little soccer star," a familiar voice echoed.

The teenage boy looked up to find himself looking down at him. A look of stupefied curiosity crossed his face.

"Now I know what you're thinking, "I must be having some sort of epiphany to solve some sort of inner conflict." Well, this isn't like learning to ride a bike." The doppelganger pulled at his head gear. "I'm not here to give you any big questions, tell you that you're worthless, or even get on your case. I'm simply here to watch."

Time passed as the two waited in silent darkness. The goggled boy had made himself comfortable on the ground as he watched the real teen keep to himself. His smile lever once left his face.

The real boy on the other hand kept thinking to himself. How had he gotten here? Was he the only one? What of his partner? These thoughts kept his mind running, but his body unmoving. The longer he sat, the more fixed to his position he became.

The more the boy thought, the deeper he got lost within them. His mind wandered back to when he had first met his first digimon. He and his sister had gotten themselves into a lot of trouble for a bunch of children. When he actually went to the digimon's world, there was constant danger. How many times had they brushed death; even before defeating Devimon? He'd gotten lucky when that black hole sent him back to the real world. He was luckier when his sister, who could always see the digimon in the real world, wasn't dragged into their dangerous escapades. They had already lost a lot of friends and he didn't need to worry about losing his sister as well.

Somehow they managed to win, and protect both worlds but they were separated from their friends. For all of the digital world managed to teach them, the price for that growth was far too high and much too soon.

The true boy looked to his clone's head gear. His mind went back to how he had originally gotten the item. They were a gift from his grandfather. They represented courage and friendship.

The boy scoffed at the thought. He couldn't begin to count the times he had actually acted like a friend, to the others. He was just their bossy leader. His courage only got him and the others in danger. Yet… they still relied on him to lead them. He also relied on them for their own talents and to hold him back when needed.

They had been the ones to keep him calm in the real world when his family was in danger. He had been the one to push them forward in the digital world. They had only won the day by their faith in each other and themselves.

The teen's mouth tightened. He wanted to have that kind of faith again. He wanted to honestly believe in himself and in the others. The only way to show that the still did, was to break free of the darkness in front of him. To find the others and defeat whoever was messing with them.

The doppelganger looked over at his real counterpart. His eyes were unreadable to the real boy. All he did was close his eyes and disappear along with the darkness, leaving the goggles on his head to drop to the floor.

The real teen reached out and grabbed his pair of goggles and placed them back atop his head. With the darkness gone he looked around, to figure out where he was. It was so dark that he couldn't make anything out other than the night sky in the window.

The boy perked up at the sound of light groaning within the dark. He paused only for a moment, until he recognized the sound as his partner's.

"Agumon!" The boy cried out.

"…Taichi," the reptilian digimon grunted. "Is that you Taichi?"

Taichi slowly made his way over to the sound of the digimon's voice. It was slight, but he managed to make out Agumon's green eyes in the darkness. When he was close enough he managed to pet the top of his head.

"Agumon, it's..." Taichi didn't know how to get the words out. All he could do is get on his knees and hug his digital friend.

"It's been so long Taichi," the yellow digimon started, "I've missed you."

"Me too."

Agumon tried to shift his arms a bit, only to find that they had been chained to the ground. He aimed his flames at the chains and pulled himself free with the help of Taichi.

"What do we do now Taichi?" the orange digimon asked.

The goggled boy thought in silence about his situation. He had no idea of where he was or how he had gotten there. The only thing he knew as that he wouldn't be able to do anything without the others. The first thing to do was to go find them.

Before the two could even look at the door, it came crashing down along with the wall in front of them. A monstrosity stood firmly in the dust of it's wake. An abomination of a digimon if he had ever seen one. A multitude of different arms and wings rested on the body of a Greymon. The sight made the two's stomachs turn.

The beast heaved and panted as it glared down at the two in the room. It kept still, as if waiting for them to make the first move.

Taichi's hand moved to his hip out of habit, but his digivice obviously wasn't there. That movement was enough to catch the monster's eye. It's mouth opened up and gathered a hot, green energy. Without even a word, Agumon raced in front of Taichi, ready take the attack head on.

The mismatched digimon reared it's head back, ready to unleash it's heated beam. As it started to lower it's neck, it's head was whipped to the side by a sudden impact. The monster fell and fired off it's attack into the far wall to the boy's right.

Agumon stared at the one who saved them. Unlike the monster that was struggling on the ground, their own body parts looked best on them than it. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Agumon exclaimed.

Taichi's eyes were glued to their savior; amazed at a sight he had almost forgotten. His gaze was only freed when it's partner called out for him. Taichi turned to face the stare of the blond haired, blue eyed chosen.

He couldn't help but grin at the sight of his friend. The goggled boy's chest started to glow with an orange light to match the blond's own shining crest. He knew what he and Agumon had to do, and now with help, they wouldn't be stopped.

* * *

 **AN: Another one done. This time handled a little differently. I've officially run out of ideas on doppelganger like chapters, so it's a good thing that the other ones I have written aren't like the others.**

 **As for Taichi's character, I felt like focusing on reliability because I feel like he holds a lot of that when it comes to the digital world. Tri sure loves to show that off for better or worst. Well, this fic is try to show how the character have grown so much as show off what they've already grown into.**

 **Out of every series of digimon, he's the only one that I can undoubtedly call a leader. He's the only one, that was ever officially appointed the position. The other series had protagonists that kind of just fell into the position or not really taking it at all. I think something like leadership puts a bit of weight on Taichi's shoulders.**

 **The crest of reliability/honesty/sincerity is kind of hard to put a finger on how you really wanna work it. In the end, you just need to settle down and pick one. I picked reliability because that's the one that works best for what I'm trying to write. Truthfully, I don't really care one way or another about the whole thing.**

 **That is, yet again, another chapter finished. Thank you for reading and I hope you leave a review or just a simple comment. I will be changing things up for the next set of chosen. Who's going to be next? That's currently the biggest mystery of them all. Keep reading to find out.**


	5. Shrouded Light

**Shrouded Light**

Darkness was nothing new to him. His life had been made up of it for years. He had gotten used to it. It was almost comforting now.

This would have been the perfect time to reflect on the awful things that transpired throughout his life. The darkness around him seemed to be thinking the same, and transformed into a dessert at his feet.

The rough, coarseness around his resting palms reassured him that he was actually awake, even if he was trapped some sort of vision at the moment. He stared at the black sky above him as he felt the sand starting to recede from his fingertips. The sand around him shifted to form three small mounds in front of him that managed to draw his gaze.

The bundles of sand started to rise and take shape. They took the form of three small humanoid figures. They all stood in a line with the smallest one in the middle. Before he could get a better look, the wind kicked up even more sand.

He covered his eyes with his hands as he managed to stand. He was unaware of the sand starting to stick to his skin as it assaulted him. His eyes were only focused on the three human shaped mounds. As the sound rushed passed them, their bodies started to gain more details.

The one to his right looked like a happy child. They carried a brave grin with their head held high. Their tanned skin implied that they were an outdoors type of child.

The one to his left wore glasses and was slightly lanky. Their skin looked pale, but their eyes looked like that of an intellectual. They were the polar opposite of the child to the boy's right. The glass hid the child's stern glare.

The one in the middle was quite a bit smaller than the other two. They had dark hair like the one to his left, but he couldn't get a good look at their face. Their hands hid their face as they wiped at their falling tears..

The young man could only look at the child in the middle with pity in is eyes. As the sand kept piling on to him, he could feels his body becoming as heavy as his heart.

The sandy winds started to pick up more speed. The other three also couldn't do anything to protect themselves from the elements so they just stood there, being pelted by the small grains. As they watched the boy, the one to the left started turn an eerie, grainy brown. The sand that swept past their face started to remove some features.

The young man watched as the figure started to melt back into a mound of sand. It was a reminder of his first real sense of loss. The figure to the far right soon fallowed suite and returned to sand. A reminder of _chosen_ abandonment. The only ones left were the young man and the middle figure.

The small child managed to not disappear, but instead gathered more sand. Over their small frame, formed a cape and a pair of shades. Their hair swept up and resembled that of the taller figure to the right.

The young man's expression grew grim with the new sight. He watched as the smaller figure started to turn the same odd brown color the others had. Even with his own body covered in sand he reached out and grabbed the small child.

The young man's fingers griped into the sandy cape and any other new accessories that might have appeared. He roughly brushed them away. As he pushed the sand off of the child he also made an effort to lift their face.

Their small face was still stained with tears and dirt. The young man's owns face was equally smothered with sand but he gave the child a serious stare. He made sure the child looked him in the eyes before he spoke.

"You can't just disappear," the young man calmly spoke. "I know your brother and friend are gone, but you can't go disappearing as well," his teeth clenched. "You haven't done enough yet. There's a lot more things to be done in the digital world. You messed up, so you can't run away."

His words were harsh, but true. That's what he had learned the hard way. That's how he lived his life, every day. He watched the younger boy slowly regain his color and lose his sandy accessories. As the sand fell off of the child, so did it fall off of the young man.

As if looking into a mirror of the past, the sand started to reveal scars on the small boy. Scars that had already healed, long ago on the young man. Scares that would normally be hidden. Each scar was a reminder of how much he had fought in the past and how much more fighting there was to be done in the future.

A soft white light started to shine from the boy's feet. The both looked down to find that the pile of sand formed a familiar digital monster. The small, glowing sand creature jumped into the young boy's arms and a smile graced both their faces.

The young man gently placed his hand atop the younger boy's head. The young boy also started to glow in a bright white. In turn the young man's scars started to give off a deep black. The young boy and digital partner slowly started to designate again, but this time, their light particles flowed into the young man.

The sandy world quickly erupted in a blast of light. The illusion was broken and the only one left standing was the young man. He looked down at his palm as it gave off a dim glow before slowly fading back to normal.

The young man was still staring at his hand when another light appeared to his right. He covered his eyes to get a good look at the cause and he found a large worm wiggling out of the light. "Wormmon?"

"Ken!" the worm like digimon cheered, as it rushed his partner. "I thought you were abducted, but then this portal of light lead me to you."

Ken looked at the vanishing portal. His mind wondered if he should have tried to take it back home. No, someone abducted him for a reason, and it would be best to deal with it now than later.

He thought back to the last thing he had done. He was in the digital world destroying dark towers with Wormmon. After that… He was frustrated at his lack of leads.

"We should get out of here Ken." Wormmon piped up.

Ken was once again shaken out of his own thoughts, "You're right." The two of them quickly found the door and made their way out and suffered their way though the maze that was their holding facility. There were many twists and turns but nothing seemed like an exit. They both were surprised when they ran into two large doors that looked to lead to some sort of common area. They were happy that it at least wasn't another empty cell.

Ken was just a bit hesitant to go through the large doors. A slight prick at the back of his neck halted his hand. He gathered himself and evolved Wormmon to prepare for whatever was on the other side.

The two pushed the double doors open to be greeted by a flood of gray water. The room seemed to be perfectly sound proof, because as soon as they opened the door, they were assaulted by the sounds of battle. The pair watched as three champion digimon fought off a hooded demon and a giant humanoid squid. Three other people that looked to be about his age watched the battle with tense glares.

The sight of battle was nothing new, but every monster there unsettled Ken's nerves; even the other humans. They shouldn't be in the digital world and to be fighting no less. He wondered if he was having another vision. While the children and the champion digimon felt familiar, the other two didn't.

Looking closer, Ken noticed something else; another digimon. It's white skin and blood red wings stood out amongst the chaos. Why hadn't he noticed it sooner? The demon drew his gaze as it darted from shadow to shadow. The other hooded monster was watching as well. In it's confusion it lost sight of the other children.

He and Stingmon watched as the female of the trio rushed past her aggressors to make it to the other side of the room. If he heard right, she yelled that she was going to find the others. The girl and her assumed partner rushed off through the opened path. The white demon took this distraction to race through the door as well.

Ken's mind was plagued with endless questions. Why would there be more people captured? There should have only been three other chosen besides himself, and these three weren't them.

The squid like digimon finally noticed Ken and a look of frustration crossed it's face. Was his manipulation of the children's hearts really that weak? Four of them had already woken up. He sent a tentacle at the boy, only for it to intercepted and sliced by Stingmon's stinger.

Everything seemed to vanish for Ken at that point. He could figure everything out later.

"You two, go find your friends," Ken looked at the two puzzled boys. They were almost as surprised about his appearance as he was of theirs. He listened to them yell about not leaving him alone but he shrugged them off. "Look, if the both of you run right now, then at least one of you can get to your friends while the other runs interference. Me and Stingmon can handle one of them by ourselves."

The two still looked like they didn't believe him so he reached for his digivice. A dark violet light erupted from the screen and Stingmon digivolved again. In his place stood an odd from of a bug mixed with a dragon. The extra set of blue claws and extra white wings were unsettling and unnatural.

The odd amalgamation assaulted the squid and managed to push it back. The two boys gawked at the new evolution and assumed that it had to at least be an ultimate. They both shared a look before making a dash for the door the girl had just ran through. The hooded digimon was hot on their heels, but they made it through safe and sound.

After making sure they were safe, Ken focused on the enemy at hand. "Now then, I think you can answer some of the questions I have. I don't know how I got here, but I have a hunch that you do."

"Foolish boy," the squid growled, "you have no idea to whom you speak. This time I'll make sure you eternally sleep in darkness."

"That's fine..." the boy smiled, "no matter how deep the darkness, there will always be a light to guide me." he looked towards Dinobeemon with a soft mile. "That's something I had to learn the hard way, so let me teach it to you as well"

* * *

 **AN: It was Ken's turn so I just had to switch things up. I like this chapter the most in terms of storytelling. It helps that I took a departure from how I've been writing the last four chapters. I mean, if you haven't noticed, there are antagonists so we'll have to deal with them sooner or later and I can't have the characters be introspective then. (Or can I?)**

 **To be honest this chapter has been done for quite a some time. While I haven't been constantly writing I've been thinking a lot and I'm glad I did. It help me sort out and flesh this story out a lot more than I originally intended. In all honestly it's a bunch of little things that need the most work, but I think they all worked out fine.**

 **Anyway, let's talk about Ken. There was once a rant about Ken's failed potential here, but I think this sentence is enough to express my base opinion. Ken's a character who's defined by the people around him and how much they accept him. All of his troubles accumulates into him forgiving himself of the things he's done. I however changed the focus of, forgiving himself, into, excepting himself and the things he's done. This Ken is the same at the base but certain things happened that helped changed him.**

 **To focus on him accepting himself, I thought that focusing on light would be the best for him. It was with this chapter that the thought of focusing on the traits the children got from others really solidified for me. Light can be interpreted in many ways, but for this story's sake, it's just a vague inner goodness. It's kind of rough but I wanted to show off the duality of Ken's light with his darkness. Ken's kindness and inner light, was never taken or thrown away in the show, but just covered up. I wanted to get that feeling across the most.**

 **I could write more but then I might start over explaining myself. Or worse, I'll just write the next chapter here. Anyway I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, and will leave a comment. Now it's time to go through the other half of the original chosen.**


	6. Isolated Sincerity

**Isolated Sincerity**

Loneliness wasn't anything new to him. He had been lonely most of his life. His parents were separated, and his brother...

He was never able to really accept that it happened. A part of him rejected the situation entirely, and by proxy, he started to reject the world around him as well. Soon, he even started to reject his own emotions.

He tried his best to not to let them show, and after 17 years of life, he had gotten pretty good at it. He hung his head at the thought of what he normally did, to mask his pain. At first it was extremely difficult, but he had quickly perfected not letting his emotions slip, after the ordeal.

His brother crossed his mind once more, along with the time they spent together. One memory was stronger than the others. It was when he had competently fell off the slippery slope that was his life. Only then did his facade brake completely, and his emotions were on full display. Everything poured out, along with his tears.

From then on out, he tried his hardest to try and shut everyone out. That only made matters worse. How many times had he put the others in danger because he no longer listened to them; because he no longer cared about his own safety?

The final straw was when they lost someone else. That was the perfect excuse for the group split apart. In his despair he was slightly thankful to finally be alone. He fought many meaningless battles until he was found by that lost child.

Just facing the once lost boy was the catalysis for another meaningless fight. He had been enraged that the boy had shown up acting like nothing had happened. That it wasn't his brother who had appeared before him. That he couldn't run away anymore.

It was in that fight when he once again lost his strangled grip on his emotions. The fight ended without a victor and a clumsy evolution of strained friendship and courage. It was only after the fighting had finished that he figured out that the boy had came back for him and their friends.

He couldn't stop crying at his on worthlessness, his own awkwardness. Why couldn't he just be sincere with the others? Why couldn't he be honest with himself? Why did he have to keep pushing everyone away? Why did his brother have to die?

Even now, at age 17, he still tries to hide within himself if things get to stressful. However, just like before, his friends won't let him do that. He's extremely thankful. It's their friendship that allows him to be sincere with himself and others.

A smile crept to his face as his eyes brightened to the room around. The darkness and bricks didn't sit well with him. He was obviously in a cell of some kind, but he didn't know where. He looked around until his eyes pick up on something moving. He would have recognizes that blue and white pelt anywhere.

"Gabumon!" he yelled to his partner. He got up and raced to his partner who was lying pron on the ground.

"Yamato...?" the digimon whimpered. He looked up and found his blond haired blue eyed partner staring down at him. "It really is you, Yamato."

He hugged his digimon as tightly as he could, "I almost thought I'd never see you again."

Gabumon returned the hug, "but we are now, right? I'm not dreaming?"

"No this is real."

"Then where are we," Gabumon looked around. "I've never seen a place like this before.

"It looks like a dungeon," he assessed the situation, "I'm sure the others must be locked up as well." He made his way towards the door. He barely brushed the handle before the door carefully swung open. The swing of the door surprised him into taking a light step backwards. That one step widened his vision enough to catch a glimpse of a shadow. He gathered himself and walked out into the hallway looking for what had just caught his eye. He couldn't find a trace of anyone or anything other than a few lit candles on the walls.

"What's wrong Yamato?" Gabumon asked.

"I… I thought I saw something," the blond's eyes watched the flicker of the candles' fire. "It must be my imagination. Come on we, have to find the others." The boy and his digimon made their way down the dim halls.

"How are we going to find the others?"

The young man scratched as his head, "you can sniff them out can't you?"

Gabumon's striped fur rustled a bit, "I don't know about that."

"Come on, Agumon would sniff us out," Yamato smirked. "Heck, even Taichi would try. That's what friends are for." The pair made their way down the halls snickering at the thought of their friends doing every goofy thing, trying to find them.

* * *

 **AN: Yeah, Yamato's chapter is finished. I once again, to a different approach with writing and went with a story teller style. It's abridged and short but it tells you everything you need to know about the character and the setting.**

 **Yamato's kind of hard to deal with, even with his problems laid out. It feels like there's a bunch of little things that I can't quite put my finger on. That being said a Yamato that isn't wallowing in self pity is just a slight tsundere.**

 **I don't have much to say this time around but I hope you've enjoyed the story nonetheless. Please leave a review or comment of any kind. Along with getting excited about the next chapter, mull over the bomb I dropped this chapter as well.**


	7. Strained Friendship

**Strained Friendship**

They had no idea of where they were. They were surrounded on all sides by brick. The only light came from the night sky and it didn't help their visibility at all. Try as they might, the power to move or even to look around didn't come. The only thing they could do was sit and wait for one of their friends to come and help them.

"But who would come to help you?" a voice crept from the dark.

They looked up to find their partner walking into the dim light. The darkness hampered their sight, but they still made out it's green skin in the moon light.

"You're the girl who imprisoned them after all." The plant digimon reminded.

"That was a mistake they already forgave me for." The young lady countered back. Memories of her first adventure rose to her mind.

"Then what about after you got back to the real world? You go to a different country for only three years and lose contact with everyone. You didn't even try to talk to them when you came back."

The girl remembered her time abroad. Her family had to leave because of her father's work, and he didn't even try to hide his excitement for getting his daughter away from all of the, "evil monsters." She tried to keep in touch, but everyone was always doing their own thing. They just naturally drifted apart. Even when she moved back during middle school everyone else had seemed to have had moved on. At least, that's how it felt to her.

"It's for the best, really," the partner spoke. "The only thing connecting you all were us digimon. Without us, was there much of a reason for you all to care about each other. Isn't it best to spare them from your selfish friendship?"

The girl hated thinking about how all of her friends splintered off from each other. She hated thinking about how she treated them all during their adventures. She hated how she still didn't feel like she had paid them back enough for their kindness.

Why was Palmon saying all of these horrible things to her. She was about to be crushed by her partner's verbal lashing. Palmon would always tell her when she went to far, but that was because… that was because Palmon knew what she really was like. Palmon always scolded her because she knew that she could always do better. Palmon would never say something like, "everyone not being friends is for the best."

"You're not Palmon," the girl spoke.

The green digimon's grin widened, "does that make a difference? Does that make the things I say any less true?"

"But we still care about each other."

"As much as any other person on the street."

"We still believe in each other."

"So you believe that they will come to save you?"

"Yes, just like me and the real Palmon will save them." The girl stood up and looked down at the tiny impostor.

The Palmon scowled and launched her vines at the girl. Her, Poison Ivy, entrapped the young lady and squeezed her breath away. It watched as tears started to pool at the girl's eyes. Even so, the girl fought off the tight grip.

The plant monster soon found that it couldn't tighten it's ivy any further. In fact, her bindings were starting to become undone. A green light seeped through and ate way at the vines. The light flowed through the ivy path until it reached their controller. The glow ate away at the fake digimon until nothing but a shadow was left where it once stood.

The young lady huffed as she fell to the floor. Her green light dimmed to just a sparkle radiating from her chest. The soft light piled together until it formed a dim beam that focused on the dark corner in front of her. The light washed over a familiar face that elated the girl.

The young lady rushed over to the corner, "Palmon!" She carefully picked up her partner and cradled her. She watched carefully as Palmon's eye's fluttered open.

"Mimi!" the plant exclaimed. "It's really Mimi. I'm so happy to see you."

"I'm so happy to see you too, Palmon" the girl couldn't help but squeeze her partner. "What happened to you?"

"I… I don't know," the plant monster gasped. She quickly grasped the situation, "what are we gonna do, Mimi?"

The young lady looked down to her digital partner in thought. "I think the others might be here as well. We have to find them. Palmon, you have to digivolve."

"But you know I can't do that anymore. You guys don't have your digivices anymore."

"But I still have the power of my crest." It had been a long time since Mimi had felt the warm glow of her crest. After she fought off that fake version of Palmon, that warmth hadn't left her. "I know that you can still digivolve Palmon. You just have to believe you can like I do."

Mimi's word's encouraged he plant digimon. She could feel power surging through her vines and in exploded in a bright light. The brightness dimmed and she found herself looking down at her partner's large smile.

"Alright, Togemon!" She watched as her partner made her way towards the door and deliver it a strong jab. The wall opened up, freeing the girls. Togemon, you're the best and I sincerely mean that." The two quickly made their way out to search for their friends.

* * *

 **AN: That was Mimi's chapter. This time I added a partner to the mix of introspection. I also gave a bit more world building on how these chosen are different than the ones form the show.**

 **Mimi's character is pretty simple. She's someone who naturally speaks her mind so her focus was more so on the others than herself. She focused on how other see her and in turn focused on how she sees them. This focus is why I used friendship as the main trait.**


	8. Insecure Love

**Insecure Love**

How did he end up here? Where exactly was he? Who was the one to capture him? Were the others taken as well? The others… He hadn't really thought of them that much recently. They all sort of drifted apart form each other.

He ever thought about it much. He had heard that it was all apart of growing up. It helped that individually, they didn't have much in common. Just one shared summer experience, no matter how life changing it was.

Thinking about it, his indifference fit his character. He was always blocking others out. Shutting down anything and anyone unnecessary. That made it easy for him to forget. Heck, even now he's having trouble feeling connected to his deceased, biological parents. If he could barely feel love for them, how could he hope to start caring for others more.

Mimi, was the perfect example of is lack of compassion. They shared the same class and he knows that she has trouble studying some of the time, but he doesn't even bother to help her. Sure she doesn't come running for help, but even giving a passing remark would mean something. Yet, every time he tries to speak nothing comes out and he ends up just going home.

He wonders if his feelings are also being misplaced, like with his parents. He tries so hard to prove that he loves them by taking them out to fancy restaurants, but why is he trying to prove his love for them? Obviously it's only for himself. He's known that for a while. Just spending time with them would make them just as happy, so it always bugged him when he tries so hard. Everything he does is starting to seem forced and fake.

It was this, "fake-ness," that made him unsure of his own feelings. The trouble of feeling this way was most likely why he was reverting back to his closed off self. A person who didn't involve himself with anyone and acted like a, "good boy," because it was harder to stand out that way.

Maybe he should just go back to how he was when he was younger. It'd be easier that way.

" _But you wouldn't want that, would you?"_

A voice seemed to echo from nowhere.

" _Don't let all of those negative emotions get you down. You may have trouble expressing it, but you know how you truly feel."_

It was his mother's voice.

 _"Even though you're separated, I'm sure you know how much they cared about you."_

From a talk they shared a long time ago.

 _"Love can be felt no matter how far or how long."_

A talk about his biological parents.

A crash came from his left. He looked over to find a girl with brown hair next to a giant cactus. The girl quickly rushed over to him.

"Koushiro, are you alright. I can't believe I found you," the girl patted him down.

"Mimi?" the boy spoke. His suspicions were confirmed. Looking at her disheveled state, he assumed that she had just broken out of capture. Yet, how was Togemon with her? Assuming they were in the digital world wasn't so far-fetched, even if they hadn't been there in six years. But for Togemon to digivolve without a digivice was shocking, considering they were all destroyed in the final battle.

The more he looked at the two, the more he seemed to understand, to feel. Bonds he thought were withered, suddenly strengthened within his heart. In that moment, a light materialized in front of him. Brighter and brighter, something started to form from within. When the light died down, a spiky ladybug rested in front of him.

"Koushiro?" the bug hovered.

"Tentomon…" Koushiro moved over and gave his partner a hug. "Tentomon I…" The young man composed himself with a smile. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you to," the digital bug agreed. "Do you know what's going on?"

The young man stood up, "not at all, but we're going to fix that. Isn't that right Mimi?"

The young woman looked over the boy, who's expression had completely changed. She hadn't seen him make that kind of face in a long time. Not since all of them had branched away from each other.

"So you were able to get Palmon to digivolve to Togemon," Koushiro observed the digimon. He looked over to Mimi and was immediately interested in her chest.

Mimi back away as soon as the boy's face got closer to her pectorals. "Koushiro, what do you think you're doing?" She pushed his face away.

The young man quizzically looked at her before realizing what he had inadvertently done. His face turned even redder than hers, "Sorry, I was just looking at your crest." A soft green glow penetrated the girl's clothing. "Our crests were destroyed along with our digivices, so I was wondering how that happened," he pointed.

"Well I don't know. All I did was meet up with Togemon again, and it started to glow."

Koushiro rubbed at his face in thought. "Was that really all that happened?"

"Well..." Mimi spoke up. "I did fight off this fake Palmon first. In fact that's when it started to glow."

Was it because she was in danger or because of an emotional response? Were their crests really gone? There was only one way to figure it out.

Koushiro, looked over to Tentomon and gave him a nod. The digital monster nodded back and the boy's chest started to glow a light purple. Tentomon on the other hand started to glow gold and grow in size. In no time, a large blue beetle looked down on the two young adults.

"Long time no see, Kabuterimon," Koushiro grinned with a huff. "It'd be great if we could get to Perfect, but if it takes this much to get to Adult then that seems like an uphill battle."

"Wow Koushiro, what did you do?" Mimi gawked. She had done the same, but she still had no idea how she managed it.

"I just believed in Tentomon," the boy explained. "Instead of using my crest, I thought back to all those times Tentomon digivolved and how I felt then. I think our crests start to glow as a response to those feelings."

"So we never really lost our crests, when we sealed the digital world?"

"So it seems. Once we figure out how to activate them again in a proper way, then we should be able to get to the Perfect level again."

"You hear that, Togemon?" Mimi beamed. "You can be Lillymon, again."

"I can't wait, Mimi," the boxing cactus answered back.

Koushiro looked over everyone in the room; thinking, calculating, guessing. "We should go look for the others. I highly doubt whoever took us just wanted us two. Let's get a good idea of the area before we even think about splitting up."

"Alright!" Mimi as getting excited at the thought of finding everyone else. "You're just as dependable as you've always been, always thinking things through. No wonder you're the at the top of our class."

Koushiro's thought process hitched only for a second. It seemed Mimi kept at least one wandering eye on him as much as he did on her. Just like him, she also probably kept some on the others as well. It seems his mother was as right as she always was.

"Thank you, Mimi," the boy smiled.

The brunette was caught of guard by the boy's genuine smile. "Of course, I'd come to your rescue any time."

The boy motioned for his partner to fallow him out of the hole the girls made, "and I'd be willing to tutor you anytime as well."

"Ah! So you noticed me having a hard time and still didn't bother to help?" She exclaimed.

"You never asked," he countered.

"We're supposed to be close enough so we don't have to ask each other for help. It looks like I need to tutor **you** on being a better friend."

"That would be intriguing," he smiled again as he walked into the hall. Maybe the others would be willing to join her. He loved the idea of all of them being together again. Knowing that made him want to find them even faster.

* * *

 **AN: Koushiro's chapter was focused on love. This crest connection was really easy to set up because he focus was also on connections. It was different from Mimi's in that I could focus on his parents. That's the main love connection but I also focused on his friends as well.**

 **I find it interesting that Koushiro's crest had a different effect on his personality. How he came to terms with it and how it effected him were completely different form everyone else. It stemmed form his lack of knowledge from interacting with people and his own feelings.**

 **Once more, I'm dropping little bits of info here and there. Once I got to this part, I still didn't have everything set in stone yet other than the odd nonlinear story setup.**

 **Once again, I hopped you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you leave a comment.**


	9. Awakened Kindness

**Awakened Kindness**

A room was brightly lit with a table full of food rested in the middle. A family of four were sat around it getting ready to dig into their diner. They gave thanks before they started picking at their meal. Small bits of a lively conversation could be heard between bites.

Another room lit up. A boy looked to been leaning over his desk. His nose was deep within a textbook. His hands quickly moved about, taking notes. He only looked up when his older brother tapped him on his shoulder. It seemed like it was time for dinner.

Another bedroom illuminated, showing a boy on his computer. He was doing a multitude of things, from checking emails to reading code. He looked to be trying to program something. His mother even walked in to give him a snack.

Another living space brightened. A mother and her daughter, seemed to be talking on the phone with someone. They were constantly handing it off to one another with smiles on their faces.

A shopping mall was the next to show up. A girl was walking with her mother, and the father looked to be lagging behind, holding multiple bags. Smiles were still spread across all of their faces.

Finally, another dining table showed itself. A family of just mother and son were having dinner this time. They didn't seem to share as much small talk as the other family. That table... those two... there was something a bit lonelier about them compared to the others.

* * *

The court room was quickly filling with gray water as Stingmon was fighting off the giant monster squid-man. The humanoid-bug digimon wanted to focus on the battle, but with the water rising, Ken took most of his attention.

Ken found it frustrating that he was having trouble fighting off a Perfect level opponent. It was even more frustrating that Dinobeemon reverted back to Stingmon. It obviously had something to do with all of the dark water that gushed from the tentacled monstrosity. He didn't know why, but it filled him with a familiar sense of dread.

Stingmon crashed to his feet and brought his mind back to the battle at hand. Having Dinobeemon's power would be helpful, but what he really needed was a decisive shot at the monster's digicore. The water was just about up to his waist, they only had a few more shots.

Ken only took half a step back before he felt something crawl up his leg. It tugged at his ankle and tripped him beneath the murky water. In his panic he grasped at anything that would keep him from being seized. As he wiggled and kicked under the water, he had realized too late that the monster was using the it to ambush him.

As he gripped the ground tighter, he noticed that one of the stones in the floor was loose. As loose as it was, it was still sturdy enough to give him a tight grip. He pulled himself together and got to his knees. The closer he go to the stone, the more he noticed the flow of the water. It felt like it was being sucked away. He thought for a second and he hoped that his plan would work.

Putting his foot in the loose crack, he got some grip to stand on. He rose from the water and quickly found his partner. "Stingmon, attack the floor near me."

Not even thinking twice, the insect digimon dived down and struck the ground near his partner. A hole opened up, sucking in all of the water, along with the rubble. His confident smirk was soon wiped away when he was reminded that the monster still had a hold of him. He too was tossed down the dark hole.

As he fell, his vision darkened and the only light came for the opening above. He reached out to his partner that was desperately diving for him. He would have heard his name being called if it was for loud splash that covered his ears.

Who would have thought that the floor below would be filled with even more water; Ken sure didn't. The splash knocked the wind out of his lungs and he chocked at the lack of air. While the room carried no light, he could feel that this water was even darker than before. His heart was being crushed along with his lungs.

Anguishing, the boy could only think of one thing to do. He cleared his mind and focused on his crest. A light violet aura started to glow form his chest and slowly flowed to the rest of his body. As he opened his eyes, the same violet light beamed form them. He could clearly see the world around him. He watched as Stingmon tried his best to reach him, however, that wasn't what caught his eye the most. What stole most of his attention was a body at the bottom of the room.

Was that another prisoner? Why were they chained down? Was that to be his fate as well? All of these questions ran trough Ken's mind but he wasn't able to fully digest any of them. The figure at the bottom of the dark pool also started to radiate with color. A bright flash lit up the dark water and Ken suddenly felt himself falling through the air once again.

Ken hit the ground with a light thud. A thick steam permeated the room. He groaned as he tried to rub at his back, but Wormmon landing on him interrupted that. As the boy stretched out his back he looked through the steam at the prisoner still chained up.

Their face was covered by a red hooded cloak. What really stood out were the orange eyes hidden in shadow. The prisoner suddenly jerked forward and released was seemed like a yell of a raging monster.

Ken braced himself, but all of his tension faded away like a yawn. The same kind of yawn that had actually came out of the prisoners mouth.

The cloaked prisoner swayed to rub at their face. They jerked their hand once again and noticed the chains. They grabbed at their bindings and watched as their color changed from a dingy black, to red. The chains seemed to heat up more and more until they were broken form their cuffs and soon, those too fell to the floor.

Ken stared at the figure massaging his freed wrists. Looking up the teen's arm's, he noticed they were covered in old burn marks. It reminded him of his own scars. The light in their eyes finally died down. He wanted to call out but was cut short.

"What an awful dream," the figure spoke. Their eyes drifted to the other person in the room. The only thought that crossed their mind was that they hadn't seen that person in the dream. "Well this is a first; another human in the digital world. You wouldn't happen to be the one who captured me, would you?" he removed his hood.

Ken stared in surprise at the boy in front of him. His long blond hair and soft smile clashed with his sharp orange eyes. If not for those eyes and the length of his hair, he might have confused him with the other boy he had seen earlier. He couldn't even think of replying, Wormmon snatched away his chance.

"Ken-chan would never try to capture anyone," the little worm asserted.

The boy was slightly thrown aback at the digimon's fierce defense. "Sorry if my joke was in bad taste," he raised his hands. "Besides, if it wasn't for Ken-chan, I might not have woken up. It seems like you've got a crest too."

The crests? So that explained how he removed the chains. "How did you end up here?" Ken questioned. No matter how friendly this kid seemed, something felt off about him.

The draped boy looked around the area, "I'm not sure. I remember taking a nap in Primary Village, but after that… I'm drawing a blank."

Before more questions could be asked, the room rumbled. Dark water rained down on the two. They both backed away to avoid the other thing dropping in on them. The large squid monster from before rested in front of the two boys.

The cloaked boy gave the monster a once over, "a friend of yours, Ken-chan?"

Ken ignored the fact that he was called that for the second time by a stranger, "kind of. You should be careful of his water, it can revert your partner."

"Right," the boy replied. A pause was all it took for a sudden realization, "it'd be great if he was here though."

Thinking he caught the blond off guard, the squid sent one of his tentacles to attack. It didn't even manage to get within five feet before being deflected by an orange force field that took the shape of the boy's crest. The slimy appendage caught fire as it sizzled on the damp floor.

The Perfect digimon cursed. Not only have all of the other children come to their sense, the most annoying one woke up as well. The boy had been taken first and put into the deepest illusion. Not only did he break out, it doesn't seem like it even affected him in the slightest.

Ken glared at the crest that protected the boy. He knew the smaller symbol of Jupiter, but had no idea what the larger symbol under it was supposed to represent. Both were encased in two circles. Small writing could be seen under the symbols, within the smaller circle, 'CAUTION! PERFECT LEVEL.' In the ring the two circles created seemed to be further warnings.

LEVEL: 333 SYSTEM: ARTIFICIAL DEVIL CODE: WRATH

"I've gotten so used to sharing his power, I forget when he's not near sometimes." The boy's eyes glowed once again. He donned his hood, "I don't know who you are, but allow me to introduce myself. I'm Takeru Takaishi, and my this is partner, NeoDevimon."

The crest waved in a haze and a familiar sight graced Ken and Wormmon's eyes. The same demon that was flying around the main hall manifested from the orange crest. The red winged, white demon silently floated in place.

"Ken-chan, that's..." Wormmon started.

"No, it's not the same one," the boy answered. This was the first time he had seen such a blatantly dark evolution done on purpose. Dinobeemon wasn't the nicest or most docile, and his Ultimate form was even more vicious, but this went to a completely different level. It was also from a crest he had never seen before. "Are you really a chosen?"

Takeru smirked at the remark, "'Chosen... it's been a while since I've heard those words. I go by a lot of names, actually. As a show of gratitude, you can call me TK, Ken-chan. As for an act of kindness, we'll get rid of this hentai reject for you." He gave the monster in front of him his full attention, "I hope you're ready."

* * *

 **AN: With Takeru done, we made our way through the crests. No, all the other ones like miracles don't count to me.**

 **This whole first part of going through the children was the main driving force of this fic. While each of them still have their own crest, I wanted to show how each of them also presented and harbored the other ones as well. For Takeru's case, his kindness somehow manifested in a different way. I hope I was able to describe what his actual crest is well enough, so those who figure it out, kudos.  
**

 **I think one aspect that a lot of people take for granted with Digimon is the feelings of the kids when they are in fight. They focus on the all of the slow character moments but forget that all of that comes to ahead when the children are in battle. I think Takeru show that the best. His whole arc in the first story wasn't to just become more useful to the group but to find the willingness to fight.**

 **Here I am once again, face with writing for my favorite character. It's hard because I'm feel like I'm stuck with writing only one type of him. (The _dark_ type) In the end it's just the situations that I'm putting him in are making his character act this way. To be fair, I did want to try to bring in angst in this story. It's just that I don't think I write a light, fun Takeru while he's in a fighting situation.  
**

 **With this out of the way, we can only move forward. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and leave a comment.**


	10. 6-3

**6+/-3  
**

Hikari dashed down the dark halls as fast as she could. Even with Angewomon fighting, the monstrosity was hot on her heels. She managed to dodge another beam attack by diving in to an open room. Angewomon was quick to regroup inside.

"It seems we underestimated this monster a bit," the angel explained. "It's not like it's particularly strong, just really tough."

"We might have to go to Ultimate," Hikari suggested. Before she could even lift her digivice, the monster burst through the side wall, surprising them both. It managed to grab the both of them, and hoist them into the air. The monster roared in delight at his impending victory.

As soon as the monster started to squeeze, the opposite wall also tore open. Through it came a gray squid being assaulted by two Perfect level digimon. As the aquatic digimon smashed into the other, it's grip on the two loosened.

Noticing, Hikari forced out a bit of light and the monster completely released them out of agony. As she fell, her eyes shifted to other digimon that had entered the room. She had thought she had seen the last of him, years ago. So lost in thought, she didn't notice how close the ground was coming. Only the feeling of arms coming around her, snapped her out of her stall. She looked up expecting Angewomon, but ran into a pair of orange glowing eyes.

"Who would have thought that falling stars were actually cute girls." The cloaked boy smirked.

Before she could reply, Angewomon swooped down and snatched her from the boy's hands.

"You're welcome," TK then turned his attention back to the two monsters in the room. He watched as Dinobeemon rushed the newcomer, as NeoDevimon kept fighting off their own foe. He noted how Dinobeemon had seemed aggressive before, but now it looked like it was out for blood. He looked over to Ken-chan and noted that his face was just as tense as his partner's.

The two hostile digimon backed themselves against the corner of the room. "This isn't over yet, we'll be back," the sea monster raged. The aquatic digimon formed into a large puddle for his partner to sink into, and both soaked into the floor.

"What an annoying guy." The blond noted.

"That was Dagomon," the girl exclaimed.

"What was Chimeramon doing here?" Ken asked himself.

Takeru removed his hood, and waved over the girl, "How about yo tell us about this, Dagomon."

"Ah! I thought you looked familiar. You're.…" the girl recognized him, but before she could get the words out, a shot of blue and red fire came hurtling at NeoDevimon.

The digimon easily evaded, but didn't dare to attack until it was sure of the enemy's position. TK glared in the direction of the shots. He got a glimpse of movement and was about to order an attack, but held back as soon as he got the full picture.

A dinosaur and fox digimon charged into the room and were followed by their respective partners. While this caused TK to freeze in place, the other teens behind the two didn't slow down one bit.

"Be careful you two, that digimon's really fast," Mimi warned.

The blond rose his hood, "fall back, NeoDevimon." The artificial devil returned to his partner. His eyes glared with an orange light.

"NeoDevimon?" Jou wondered. "Don't tell me we have to fight Devimon again."

"No wait! Please, don't attack," Hikari and Angewomon got in between the chosen.

Ken moved to TK to maker sure he had at least some back up. "Ta…" He was about to call out but noticed that to boy's glare grew sharper. Ken wasn't the type to call anyone by their first name, let alone a nickname, but now wasn't the time to be picky. "TK, calm down, what's your problem."

The blond's eyes dimmed, "Sorry, it…" He leaned his head back and rubbed at his neck. Releasing a long sigh, "it's not like I was gonna attack them or anything."

Hikari noticed a forced smirk return to his face. She returned her focus to the other teens in front of her. However, her constant string of being interrupted hadn't ended yet. She was blindsided by the girl she had saved early.

"Wow, you're alright," Mimi hugged the girl. "To think you fought off that monster all by yourself." She noticed the girl's partner and marveled at it's beauty. "Oh, her Adult form is really amazing, but Lilymon's way cuter."

"I'm Perfect level, by the way," Angewomon reverted back to her adult level. "Now that we've calmed down..."

"Why is Hikari here!?" Taichi exclaimed.

"Onii-chan?" Hikari replied back. "You shouldn't be here."

"Enough," Ken put a stop to this carnival of cut-ins. He gathered everyone together and they talked out what had happened to them and a bit about themselves.

"So we're from different worlds?" Yamato wondered aloud.

"More like different realities," TK hummed on his harmonica. He was laid out staring at the ceiling. His hood lowered even lower than ever. "Sharing similar experiences with slight deviations. Like all of you fighting Vamdemon in Odaiba as the end of your adventure, but the start of Hikari's."

"You and Ichijouji managed to defeat him in the Digital World," Koushiro cut in. "Not only that, but you two and Hikari still have accesses to yours."

"Why did Hikari have to go to the digital world all by herself?" Taichi grumbled.

"Don't be like that, Taichi," Sora scolded. "Even though our Hikari didn't have a partner, she managed to help us defeat VenomVamdemon. Besides, this Hikari not only has her own partner, but is almost as old as you are."

"Even if it's only by a year, and from a different reality, she's still my little sister."

"I feel the same way," the girl in question giggled at her brother's antics.

"It must have been hard to fight by yourselves,"Mimi empathized.

"But I'm not by myself. The digimon put in just as much effort as Tailmon and I. Things only got easier after we released the Four Harmonious Ones."

"I also wasn't alone," Ken spoke up. "I had someone with me on my first adventure. It's just… I'm sure he too is in a different reality now," the boy got slightly quieter. "Anyway, I'm still not alone. Another set of chosen appeared in the Digital World a few years ago and now we keep watch together."

Takeru sat up, "now that we're done sharing, let's focus on the monsters that nabbed us. From what you told me, one of those guys sounds like it was a Daemon, an Ultimate."

"Dagomon may only be a perfect, but he has an odd set of powers. I've beaten him before so I'll take the lead in handling him," Hikari assessed.

"Chimeramon is a perfect level accumulation of many digimon, including a hand full of yours," he looked to the group of six. "He's really strong and durable, but it's mind is weak and unfocused. Outsmarting it shouldn't be a problem for me."

"Don't forget NeoDevimon…" Yamato started. He looked over and noticed the one with them. "The other one is still lurking around somewhere, and it doesn't seem to be working with the others."

"Then I guess we better get moving," Takeru rose to his feet.

"Wait a minute," Yamato also stood up. He walked over to the hooded boy and glared him down, "we all shared something about ourselves, what about you? You only chimed in bits at a time and explained off other people. We don't really know anything about you as a person. I might not speak for all of us, but I still don't trust you or your digimon. You're hiding something from us, and I wanna know what it is."

"I can say the same about your group as well," the slightly younger blond sneered. Yamato took a timid step back. "Thought so… If I had to compare myself to any of you, I'm closer to your group." He opened up his cloak just enough to reveal three black digivices. The small octagon devices, looked dirty and battered. It was as if the life had been sucked out of them. All of the others had a good idea of what they meant. A somber tone fell upon the room.

"I'm…"

"There's nothing to be sorry for. You all are the same, right?" The conversation should have ended there.

"No, I still want to apologize," Yamato insisted, "I'm sorry."

It took only a moment to Takeru to compose himself, "I'm sorry, too."

Ken took as a chance to moving things along again. "We really should get going."

"But are we just going to escape while those digimon are on the look out?" Palmon inquired.

"Shouldn't we take the fight to them while we have the chance?" Gomamon chimed in.

"Didn't we already decide that we are going to fight in the first place," Tailmon yawned in her partner's lap.

The group of six quieted down and looked to each other for answers.

"Obviously we're going to go fight them," Takeru jumped in.

"With the detect function of my D-3 I have their locations on hand," Ken explained.

"I can kind of sense digimon, but that sounds really handy," Hikari expressed. She walked over to her brother and Agumon, "ready to go?"

Taichi reacted to the confidence in her voice. "Let's go guys. If we don't beat them now, they'll just try to capture us later." That spurred the others into action and the group of nine made their way through the hallways.

Takeru and NeoDevimon made up the back of the group, and kept focus in the off chance they were caught off guard. They notice Hikari and Tailmon slow down and match their pace.

"You're actually Takeru Takaishi, aren't you?" The girl whispered.

"And if I am?" the blond kept his eyes forward.

"That would mean Yamato Ishida is your brother. In my world you were always getting people to buy tickets to see his band play before he left for college. Why didn't you tell him that you're his brother.?"

"What kind of dream did you see while being held here?" he answered with a question of his own. He watched as she was caught off guard. "For me it was a dream about the six of them. A dream about a world where I no longer exist."

"Then you…" Hikari remembered what he had said about being closer to the other six than anyone else. She couldn't help but raise her hands to her mouth, "and those digivices must be…"

The orange eyed boy brushed his cloak to the side and reveled even more digivices. "I have a total of eight."

The device on the back of his belt managed to catch her eye. That one seemed different than the others. It wasn't black but also wasn't it's normal bluish gray color. It was almost transparent.

"I found it in Vamdemon's castle. I guess it's not activated. Back on topic; Taichi said that no matter what reality it was, you're still his sister. I'm not sure everyone can think that way. There's no point in making them emotional over something that's… not true. At the end of this adventure, we'll go our separate ways and things will be like they were before."

Hikari couldn't help but feel sorrow for the boy. While she didn't know the Takaishi in her world too well, she at least knew that he was someone who loved his brother dearly.

A person's life will go on whether you are there are not, no matter the capacity. Yet, in a condition like his, it could only be agonizing to know how life went on.

"Besides, their lives seem happy, and that makes me happy too." a small, weary smile crossed his lips.

"And you?" she questioned.

"Me? I…" he looked down at his hands, "I'm not the same person as when I lost them."

Hikari deiced to leave that conversation there. Takeru had made his choice and it was his alone to make. "So TK, is there anything else you can tell me about your world?" she played along.

Takeru couldn't believe that the stupid nickname he made up just to tease Ken came in handy. A thankful smirk went her way, "have you ever heard of the Olympus XII? Well, it more like thirteen but Plutomon is kind of the black sheep. Though sheep isn't right, he more like a mad dog."

The light conversation continued. Just little bit more and soon everyone would return home, back to their normal everyday lives.

* * *

 **AN: All of the chosen have finally met each other. Because some of them come from different worlds things can't go as perfectly as normal. They all have different experiences causing some of them to have slightly different attitudes. I'll use this authors note to briefly go over each of their own worlds and differences.**

 **First up is the group of six. Their adventure was pretty much the same all the way through with the exception of losing Takeru and Patamon in the fight with Devimon. Somehow everything worked out with only Yamato being hard to deal with until Taichi came back from the real world and they duked it out. While there isn't an eight child in that world, I took the idea of Hikari being a mysterious child from some early interviews about adventure. With her help and the sacrifice of the digivices and crests; the children were able to defeat VenomVamdemon and restore the digital world with their partners also being sent back. They haven't made contact until now.  
**

 **Next is Ken. I don't know enough of the Wonder Swan games to say anything definitive but all you need to know is that he and Ryo went on some adventures and that Ryo was taken to a different dimension. Let it also be noted that any of the other chosen in those game were in fact, from another digital world as well. He still became the Digimon Kaiser and was defeated by Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori. This Ken wasn't as lucky to have Daisuke conveniently see into his heart so he spent most of his time with only Wormmon. He figured out the power of his crest and managed to tun into a one man army. When things do get too rough he will call the others for backup.**

 **Hikari's adventure started with the invasion of Vamdemon's army. With the help of Wizarmon, she was able to meet with Tailmon and defeat Vamdemon. However, she also needed to go to the digital world to stop the Dark Masters, who had imprisoned the Four Harmonious Ones. As she released the guardians and defeated the Dark Masters one by one, she steadily grew stronger. After finally freeing Qinglongmon, Tailmon gained the power to reach her Ultimate form and managed to defeat Piemon. Peace finally returned to the Digital world and she's now it's main protector.**

 **Takeru probably had it the hardest. He was the only one to survive the battle with Devimon which still killed Patamon. He was pretty much stuck on file Island for a good while and couldn't even make it over to Server. The only thing he could do was live and train with the other digimon until Patamon could digivolve to Angemon again. It worked out in the end but many physical and mental trials where had until he couldn't take them anymore and snapped. If it wasn't for his strong will and the memento of his brother that he carried around, _he_ might have been the one to destroy the digital world. Destroying Etamon and Vamdemon were simple and he managed to return home after spending about only half a year in the digital world. He didn't have to deal with the Dark Masters and his only true challenge came form the Olympus XII who came from their own digital world years later. **


	11. Nine Rise

**Nine Rise**

The group made their way through the halls, fallowing Ken. The boy looked down at his digivice, "seems like all three of those guys are just ahead." His eye twitched at one of the dots disappearing, "I mean, two of them are just ahead."

"They seem like quite the mobile bunch," Koushiro surmised.

"Dagomon's a worm like that," Tailmon added.

"The powers of darkness are super convenient," Takeru pipped in. "Mind control, teleportation, you name it."

"That does sound really convenient," Taichi groaned. "What do we have?"

"The light has healing powers and can dispel things like mind control. It has a natural advantage over darkness." Hikari answered.

"But it doesn't have teleportation, does it?" Yamato brought up.

"Quiet down, were here," Ken rose his finger to his lips. A large door separated the group from their captors. Ken pushed the double door open tor reveal a gigantic room with a glass ceiling.

The moonlight shined down on the scene of two Daemon feasting on Dagomon. Most of the chosen stepped back in horror at the sight. The squishing, and chomping churned their stomachs. They watched as the torn flesh vanished behind their dark hoods.

The only one to move was Takeru, because he knew what would happen if he didn't. The orange crest appeared once again with new text:

CAUTION! ULTIMATE

LEVEL: 666 SYSTEM: DEMON-GOD CODE: WRATH

NeoDevimon flew through the rings and digivolved to a Daemon as well. It rose it's arms for an attack but was caught by the doubles. They squeezed their palms around his neck while smirking from behind their own hoods.

"It seems you're too late," one spoke, "our plan is almost complete."

Takeru's partner grabbed at the other's hands and tugged back. Miraculously he managed to free himself as he felt some strange force pull him back. The demon looked behind and found a GranKuwagamon staring down on him.

"Wow, did you cut through the space between them to pull Daemon back?" Takeru gawked. Before he could get his answer, Holydramon flew by and released a holy steam of fire, causing the two demon-man digimon to back off.

Takeru felt both, Hikari and Ken run up beside him, getting ready for battle. "I was worried about you gaining data to power yourselves up, but I forgot we got three veteran Ultimates on our side. There's no way we can lose," the blond boasted.

The group of six couldn't help but feel that the boy was right. They couldn't even get to Perfect, and none of them had even came close to obtaining Ultimate. It looked like they were going to sit this battle out on sidelines.

"An ever arrogant Demon Lord," snickered one enemy Daemon.

"An inferior princess playing a pretend goddess…" laughed the other at Hikari.

"…And a repenting emperor. Do the three of you have any idea of why you're even here?" No one bothered to amuse the demons. "No matter, all you need to know is that we've been watching you three since you defeated your respective Vamdemon.

"It can't be…" Hikari seemed to be the only one to catch on, "…you're PicoDevimon." Only the group of six recognized the name.

"Correct," they both answered. They both continued their story, "we were able to connect our feelings of defeat and inferiority across time and space to form this union. We managed to pick up Dagomon and Chimeramon along the way, while scoping out each of your worlds."

"There's absolutely no way you could have resurrected Chimeramon," Ken asserted.

"No one said it was the one you knew," they glanced towards Hikari. "The same can be said about Dagomon," they smiled ad Ken.

"So you hate us three," Takeru surmised, "then why get these guys involved," he pointed to Yamato and the others.

"With them having lost access to their digital world, it was the perfect place to escape to. There were so many deliciously evil digimon crawling around everywhere. There was more than enough for all _three_ of us."

The group was caught off guard by the sudden revelation. The sky light shattered apart as another Daemon dived down. Before anyone would lift a finger, the other two demons flew up too their companion and they all glowed with a familiar dark power. It was the light of a dark evolution.

The room was draped in a dark light that overcame their vision. As each person opened their eyes, they were only greeted to darkness. The floor and walls had disappeared and the only thing in their place floated a large, black dodecahedron. It was hard to make out against the dark back ground, but a lanky figure stood at it's top. As the faces started to protrude into pyramids, the gold on the sides reflected the cloaked figure as they reviled themselves.

"How do you like my new look chosen?" the digimon asked. "You my call me Apocalymon." Before he could continue his monologue, three attacks shot towards him at blinding speed. The faces revealed metal chains with tri-pronged clamps at the ends. Three of them were destroyed in defense.

The three Ultimates had gone on the attack once again, and this time they didn't let up. One powerful attack after another assaulted the negative digimon. No team work, no planed cooperation, just an unending onslaught.

The group of six watched in amazement. The only Ultimate they had seen had been VenomVamdemon, who they only beat with the power of teamwork. They all remembered how much damage that one digimon had done to their city. Seeing three of them gang up on one opponent was overwhelming.

Apocalymon was also surprised. He thought he had absorbed more than enough data to defeat all of them. However, the day wasn't lost yet. He still had some tricks left up his sleeve.

Takeru watched the battle with dull eyes. He found Apocalymon's defense more annoying than impressive. He eyed one of the claws starting to change in to an odd cannon shape. It fired a blue stream of energy straight for the main group of six. Before even a gasp could leave any of their lips, he projected his demon's crest as a makeshift shield.

The blond rolled his eyes back towards his foe only to find another claw heading his way. Not one to fall for tricks, he easily stepped out of the way. His expression only changed when he finally put all of his weight down. The solid feeling of a floor no longer supported him. It felt as if his foot was sinking into mud.

The other teens started to feel that sinking feeling too. But not only that, it also felt as if the air itself was getting heavier. The digimon seemed to be the only ones unaffected. The group of six were clutched by their respective partners, in hopes to stop their slow decent.

The only one not dropping was Hikari. The pink crest of light appeared under her feet as she started to glow white. "The powers of darkness can't toy with me anymore," she declared. "Everyone, don't let the darkness in your hearts weigh you down. We've all overcome our own hardships, so just believe in yourselves and you can still stand tall." Her voice reached the others as their crests started appearing one by one. Each one supporting their chosen and allowing their digimon to digivolve. Hikari couldn't help but smile at the others.

Apocalymon couldn't help but smile as well. "That was a great speech, but it seems it didn't reach two of your most powerful companions," he sneered at the sinking Ken and Takeru. The brunette seemed to be down to his shins, while Takeru was fully wading through the darkness. Both holding a look a pure frustration.

"What kind of darkness is this?" Ken cursed.

"Mine, of course. The more darkness you hold, the heavier you'll get and the further you'll sink. Drown in your own feeling of anguish."

"Hurry and use your crests as support," Hikari called out.

Apocalymon howled with laughter, "They can do no such thing. Their crests aren't for _them_. That boy's sense of kindness is only for the things and people he must protect," he pointed at Ken. "The other one has been _hopeless_ since long ago. The only thing left in him is anger and hate for his enemies," he watched Takeru grit.

Yamato gaze shifted to the hooded teen. Even if it had only been just an expression; the word, "hope," stood out to him. They had lost someone in their group, and the only thing they had left was their crest, so it was given to him.

"So what?" the long haired blond glowered as his hood fell.. "This amount of darkness isn't enough to keep a hold of me." As he yelled his declaration, a violet crest appeared in front of him. For the briefest of seconds, his eyes darted to Ken-chan, who was doing much better at keeping his ground. He reached out and managed to get a hold of the crest, and started to pull himself out.

"Just know that the more darkness you use, the faster you'll go, Takaishi," Apocalymon grinned. All he had to do was to provoke the boy and he would fall all by himself, no matter how much help he got. Once he was out of the way, Daemon would be as well. Then it would been Ken and GranKuwagamon's turn. Hikari was still a problem, but with the other two out of the way, things should go much more smoothly.

Yamato snapped at the mention of his mother's maiden name. "Ta…" The words caught in his throat. "Takeru?" The teen didn't answer. Yamato watched as the boy's back sunk further into the darkness. "You're Takeru, right? My brother."

The orange eyed boy felt like he could almost crack his own teeth together. A large tug was pulling him in deeper than he could hold himself up. "It doesn't matter if I'm Takeru; I'm not your brother," he was starting to lose his grip. "I'm not going to lose here," he was no longer hanging on. "Even if I die, Daemon will defeat you." He was down to his neck.

"Then I hope the darkness shows you a kind dream before taking you forever," The monstrosity smiled as the young man before him completely sunk into the darkness. One was down and there were eight more to go.

* * *

Awful... Today was completely and utterly awful in every single way. Once again drifting through darkness. Once again remembering his past. Would these guys be killed as well? They seemed weaker than he was, even though he's the one in drowning to death. It was just like the first time, he just couldn't hear their voices this time.

Ever since then, his goal was not to overcome but to never feel that feeling of loss. That feeling of rather being dead. To see that through, he forcefully threw away his hate of fighting and gained strength on his own. However, even that wasn't enough to raise above the trials he and Tsukaimon faced alone. Through his pursuit of power, he never thought that the parting moment with Angemon would have been Patamon's as well.

At the end of his rope, his own self-loathing pushed him and his partner over the edge. A dark evolution that never should have happened occurred. Even though he should have been trembling in fear at the demon in front of him, he couldn't shake off his excitement. As his digivice darkened and his eyes glowed, he witnessed a crest form below the demon's feet before it evolved once again. Finally, finally, his efforts had paid off.

Yet, that still wasn't enough. Not matter what kind of power he obtained, it was never enough. Not for himself, or the enemies that laid ahead. Only when he aimed that hate and anger outward did his truer traits show themselves.

For the longest time, he was unaware of his and his partner's actions. Others cowered in fear, and those who opposed him dwindled in a blink of an eye. His lack of knowledge and paranoia did nothing more then send him in and loop of negativity.

He was haunted by scars and burns he didn't remember having. Visions of cruel actions the two had committed. Tsukaimon had lost his spirit, and became even more closed off. Only after overcoming the pain of becoming the Demon Lord did he learn how to truly control himself and his power.

Ever since then he had only been living in ways to avoid any unnecessary grief. Getting stronger, discipline himself, and distancing himself from others.

That being said, he still did things that he found enjoyable. It's not like his life was without any joy. In fact there was one thing he did to bring up good memories.

He reached through the darkness and fumbled around in his pocket. He felt the small object brush his fingers and managed to pull it out. He brought the little instrument to his lips and started to play. The harmonica hummed a tune from his youth. One he remembered his brother playing from time to time. He had no idea what compelled him to play the soft melody, but he kept with it. The more he played the lighter he felt. It was as if each note sent a pulse through is body.

Unknown to him, the digivices around his belt started to shine, enveloping him with their soft glow. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted to all of the other's crests shining above the darkness. The digivices responded, to their similar traits and chosen. In an instant, Takeru grasped the situation and continued plying. He found it amusing how easily a connection could form and how strong old ones could still be.

* * *

Back on the surface, the group of teens were fighting for their lives. Taichi had ran over to help keep Ken from going under the darkness as well. Hikari was doing her best in trying to pierce the through the area that had taken Takeru. Yamato could only try to keep himself together as he focused on the battle. Takeru's words hit him hard but it at least kept him the tiniest bit focused.

The digimon were putting up a valiant fight, but with the capture of one of their own, everyone's focus was split. Daemon had slowed down considerably, and GranKuwagamon was distracted by his partner. Holydramon looked to be the only one dealing any real damage and even she looked smaller than before.

Yamato watched as Garurumon fell before his feet. He knelt down to his partner and patted his fur. He could only feel a familiar sense of helplessness as he couldn't do anything for his friend. A part of him wanted to give up and be swallowed by the darkness as well.

As if feeling his partner's feelings Garurumon got up. The wolf digimon steadied his feet before speaking, "Yamato, I'm still good to go. I can still fight."

The blond looked up with a pained expression, "I know you're willing, but what can we do?"

"We can try," and with that, the blue and white wolf leapt back into the fray.

Yamato looked back down at the spot his, "brother," once occupied. He watched as Hikari gave off a strong light trying to feel for the boy's location. His eyes were drawn towards the darkness, as if it was calling out to him. Even through the loud noise of battle, he could make out a faint tone. It was as if he was listening with his heart. It was familiar and soothing. It was a song he shared most with his brother.

A memory flashed before his eyes. He remembered Takeru playing a harmonica. Could that have been the one he owned? The other Yamato's? If that was the case then Yamato knew what to do. He pulled out his own harmonica and fallowed the rhythm. He hadn't played this piece in a while but he still remembered all the notes. The more he played the lighter he felt. He finally managed to stand up. His eyes once again drawn to the same spot of darkness.

The patch of darkness suddenly lit up in a rainbow of six different colors. Hikari immediately dimmed and took a step back. Six digivices, colored in the hues of the crests burst from the darkness. Each one flew to their respective owner. The teens were shocked, but each reached out for the devices, and when grabbed, their partners evolved to the next level.

Apocalymon was dumbfounded. Was it the teen's persistence that activated the digivices? Who would have thought that they would work between worlds as well? The monster's eyes keyed in on Yamato, who was still playing. He had been the tipping point so he would have to be taken out first.

A metal claw sped it's way to the blue eyed teen. He stopped is playing and put up is hand in defense, but the attack never game. He uncovered is face to reveal the crest of hope protecting him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the shining crest of hope. It's light almost blinded him before the crest flew at the darkness he was focused on.

A pillar of gold shot up towards the sky. The sound of music flooded the area along with the light. Apocalymon couldn't stand either and reeled back in pain. As the light died down the only thing his eyes could focus on was the teen who once again stood in front of him, wearing the crest of hope. He wanted to attack, to yell, but he couldn't seem to find the strength to move. He could only release a low growl at the surrounding light.

Each partner digimon started to glow with it's corresponding crest. Light once again flooded the area, slowing revealing the castle. Bit by bit, the darkness started to recede from the lights touch. Apocalymon was bound in place by the light. His form distorted and shrunk with the increased illumination. With one final note he was completely erased by the light. In the end he couldn't even curse his own fate.

Takeru, moved the harmonica from his lips as he tired to open his eyes. The room had taken back original dim form, but he still found trouble opening them. "People really should just stick to fighting how they normally do," he put his harmonica away. "It's so bright that even with my eyes closed, the still hurts," he palmed at he eyes.

All of the digimon reverted back to their child forms, and rushed back to their partners.

"We did it Hikari," Plotmon jumped into her partners arms.

"You did great holding out until the very end, Plotmon," Hikari patted the small dog.

"Jou, we won," Gomamon waddled over.

Jou reached down to pick him up, "I'm surprised we're still alive. Good job."

"I knew I could win with you by my side, Sora," Piyomon nuzzled into the girls side.

"Me too," Sora hugged the bird digimon back.

"Taichi, we won, we won," Agumon jumped on his partner.

"We sure did buddy," Taichi caught him with ease.

"Sorry I couldn't do more Ken," Wormmon crawled over.

"That just means we both need more practice," Ken reviewed. "Next time, we'll handle the situation better."

"I told you not to give up Yamato," Gabumon rose a paw.

"You're were right, like always," Yamato gave the paw a firm shake.

"How was I Mimi?" Palmon wondered.

"You were great Palmon," Mimi complemented. "You got to Perfect again."

"Victory is ours Koushiro," Tentomon buzzed over.

"Yes, it is. I can't believe we managed to defeat Apocalymon in such a way." Koushiro surmised. It reminds me of when we defeated, VenomVamdemon."

Tsukaimon floated down to his partner that had finally stopped rubbing his eyes. He brushed his nose against his partner's cheek

"As affectionate as ever, huh," Takeru smiled as he squished he partners cheeks with his fingers.

"It seems you children did a wonderful job dealing with this dreadful situation," an aged voice mused. The group of teens turned and were greeted a small elderly man.

"Gennai!" Koushiro gasped. "We haven't heard from you in years."

"Honestly I was hoping to never have to contact you again. I was hopping to give you children back the normal lives you had, instead of pushing the responsibility of protecting our wold onto you. Even when everything started to crumble and I wanted to call on your help, but it was already too late."

Takeru whispered to Hikari, "do you have an old man too? Also, how did he get in here?"

Before the girl could answerer that she didn't, and that she had no clue, the elder spoke again, "I can at least answer your second question. It's how you three will get home. He waved his hand, the dimensional trio's digivices started to light up. They shot forth beams of light the morphed into color coded portals.

"With the worlds in as much flux as they are, getting from one place to another is quite simple," Gennai to explained. "As for how you three are getting home, I just used your own digivices to key in on your own dimensions."

A silence covered the room as every realized that their small odd adventure had came to an end.

"I guess, I'll be going now," Ken spoke first. "It was interesting meeting you all. I think I've learned something useful," his eye hovered around Takeru and Hikari.

"It was great meeting you," Hikari waved.

"Keep up the good work, Ken-chan," Takeru smirked.

Not once had, Takeru called him by his proper name. "You too, TK," Ken smiled as walked into his portal muttering something about digimentals of light and hope. It quickly blinked out of existence as he made his way through.

The sound of crying babies started to fill the room. Takeru looked back to his portal and palmed as his face. "I forget we were in the primary village before we were taken." He could hear a childish voice also call his name. "Even Minervamon is there; we gotta go, Tsukaimon." Before he could make his move he felt someone grab his wrist. He turned around and found Hikari holding on to him. Her eyes were stern and focused.

"I need to ask you a favor," She started. "I want you to find the Hikari of your world, and give her, her digivice. She deserves to have it and to meet Tailmon."

The blond gave a blank stare. He was already so used to being by himself that when he originally found the digivice, he didn't even think about who it belonged to. Only after everything had died down, did he give it a passing thought. "I… I think it's a bit late in the game to be worrying about that now," he brought up.

"Please… Ever since you told me about what happened in your world, I couldn't help but think about what I would do if I was in her situation… your situation. If it was me, I would want to know, and if I were you, I would want to help."

Takeru took in the girl's request with a heavy sigh. As his hand fell down his face once again, his finger brushed against the crest resting on his neck. He brought the crest of hope up to his face and gave it a long glare. He sighed once more as he pulled the cord over his head. Walking up to Yamato, he held out his hand.

The older blond tentatively took the younger one's hand. A firm grasp could be heard as the two shook. "Goodbye, Yamato."

Seeing what the boy meant, Yamato did the same, "goodbye, Takeru." As he let go, he realized that he was holding on to the crest of hope. "Wait, won't you need this." He thought about the borrowed digivice he held in his other hand.

"Like I'd need something like that," Takeru flashed his own digivice. The blueish-gray tint had returned and for the briefest of moments, the screen flashed gold. "You need something to remember your brother by, don't you?" He smirked as he walked away. "Don't say I never did anything nice for you; all of you. Especially you, Hikari; I don't even live in Odaiba."

Hikari watched the boy grumble through is portal, and contemplated if it was okay that she didn't tell him her address. Well, he seems like the type to figure things out on his own anyway.

"Let's get going, Hikari," Plotmon ushered.

"Wait!" Taichi reached out. He watched his, "sister," turn to him without think of what to say next. Seeing how Takeru treated Yamato, he fully grasped his own relationship with this girl. That being said, he felt he had to say something.

The girl realized what was going on and moved in to give her brother a hug. As she clasped her arms around him, she could feel him jitter in her grip. She rested her head on his chest until he managed to calm down enough to return the hug.

"There's no need to feel awkward, Onii-chan," the sister explained. "It's just like you said, no matter the time, space, or reality, you are my older brother," she smiled up at him.

"I don't think I put it quite as bluntly," the brother responded with a sheepish grin.

"Well, I'm not the one who's nervous about it." A chorus of the girl's name could be heard coming from her portal.

"You were looking after baby digimon too?"

"It's probably the Harmonious Ones looking for me… So it's something like that." Hikari backed away, "You and Agumon stay safe; all of you stay safe." She disappeared carrying Plotmon though her portal.

"And with that, the distortions in all of our worlds should start to die down," Gennai "Now, on to the last set of business." He looked over the group of six young adults, each one with a pensive look in their eyes. "I would like to humbly ask if any of you would like to return of being protectors of this world? It appears that I have made a selfish judgment all on my own and would like to atone for it."

The group gasped at the unexpected request. They all looked down at their partners, and then at each other. They all wore the same smile, knowing that there was only one answer any of them would chose.

* * *

Ken and Wormmon exited their portal tired and introspective. Seeing how Takeru and Hikari had used the light to fight back against the darkness got him wondering about his own light. Getting more groggy with each step and though, he pulled out his digivice to see what day it was. It seems he was missing for a little more than over a day.

As he put the device away, another device started to beep. His D-terminal went off with chime after chime of missed messages. He opened it up to find that the others had been looking for him and that his parents were worried about him.

"It looks like we need to get home, quick," Wormmon pipped up.

"I was hoping could have just taken a nap right here, honestly," Ken yawned.

"In the dessert? At night?"

"Yep," Ken snickered a bit as he picked up into a jog.

* * *

A few days had passed, and Hikari was still giving details of what had happened to the Four Harmonious Ones. She swore that they could be worse than her brother and father when it came to her well being.

"I can't believe you ran into that fool, Dagomon, again," Zhuqiaomon ruffled.

"It sounds like he was as big a deal this time as he was before," Xuanwumon spouted.

"I'd like to hear more about the other children that you met," Qinglongmon sparked.

"Yeah, eight other children like our princess sound really interesting," Baihumon roared in amusement.

"Don't get your hopes up," Tailmon warned. "Only two of them were on the same level as, Hikari."

"Now, now, Tailmon, I'm sure the others could get to Ultimate with enough time," Hikari defended. "Also, the way those two fought was really interesting. I should get more proactive in battles as well. I've been focusing on defense a bit much."

The four holy beasts looked down at the girl with a questionable look. Wasn't the offense their priority?

Easily reading them, "I understand your feelings, but I can't just settle for how I am right now. This experience has taught me that I need to be more vigilant, and I need to further improve myself."

The four giant digimon couldn't help but admire the girl who had once rescued each of them form the Dark Masters. Her actions and temperament constantly remind them why they fallowed and respected her.

* * *

Taichi was busy trying to get ready for his trip to the onsen. The others had all played a game, and the victor got to pick the location of their trip. Mimi had won and so it was off to baths, games, and hot springs. Seeing how soccer practice was starting to wear him out, Taichi couldn't complain. After making sure everything was set, he walk out into the living room to find his sister playing with Koromon.

"Are you ready to go?" Hikari asked without turning around.

"Yeah, Taichi, we can't keep the others waiting," Koromon bounced around.

"Yeah, I'm good to go." The three made their way out of the house and off to the meeting spot.

"I'm glad yo invited me too, Onii-chan," Hikari thanked.

"Hey, you're apart of this group as much as the rest of us," they made their way down the steeps to reach the underside of the bridge.

"I'm also glad you can spend time with everyone else again."

They could see the rest of the group waiting for them under the bridge. A smile couldn't help but be on Taichi's face.

* * *

It was a hot summer's day and the sky above Mikami Canyon was bright and clear. On a path that was a bit far off from the normal campgrounds, rested a wooden shrine. In front of the shrine was a memorial raised plaque for the six children that had died eight years ago.

Only a single girl was at the memorial paying her respects. She made sure to come the same day each year. She understood why she was the only one to come. The trip was long and it was just as easy to do it at their own family grave. She however, had felt some need to come out every year and take care of the memorial.

The young woman was brushing over the six names engraved with a damp cloth. She remembered how each family was still grieving when it was put up. Remembered how happy her brother looked when he was going off to camp.

A high pitched cry cut though the silence of the mountain. The girl turned around to find a large, white cat with purple stripes. The cat looked to be slowly walking up to her, holding an odd device in it's mouth. Her eyes were glued the oddly proportioned creature. It's size and the golden ring resting on it's tail as if it was magic felt a bit off. Still, she couldn't help herself from bending down and reaching out to the thing. Her hands brushed the sides of it's face and started to move up and down from there.

The cat in turn rubbed along into the girl's palm. After a bit it managed to drop the device in her hands. It watched as the she examined the trinket. Her eyes full confusion but also a bit of wonder.

"Hey, hey, hey! What did I say about running off on your own," a masculine voice range out.

The two looked up to find a blond, teenage boy with a with a stuffed animal on his head and a bucket in his hands walking their way. The girl had never seen such a large stuffed hamster before. His blue eyes seemed to focus on her for only a brief moment before looking around. "It seems you managed to find a friend at least," he sloshed the bucket he was holding.

"Is this your cat?" The girl stood.

"No, I just promised to look after her. It looks like you didn't get to finish up," he waved his bucket at the memorial. "How about you take a break and play with her while I do the rest."

This was the first time the girl had seen anyone else visit the memorial since it had been put up. She didn't know what to say, but the boy just walked past her and started wetting his cloth. The sound of splashing water snapped her back to her senses.

"Thank you," she picked up the cat and moved over the shrine to take a seat on the stairs. She was thankful for the shade it and the trees provided. She watched the boy in front of her. He didn't look to be any older than she was. She tried to place who he was related to. It was hard because it had been so long since she had seen any of the families. The only person she kept up with from time to time was Mrs. Takenouchi because she lived close by. She didn't know why she found it so hard to ask the boy such a simple question. Maybe it was because it was a question she wouldn't want to asked to her.

"You know, I'm surprised I haven't been out here to see this yet," The blond began. "It doesn't help that I live even further out than Odaiba. You must always come and visit on the first, huh?" He didn't give the girl the time to answer, "and the only one as well. That's perfect, I did come here to meet _you_ after all."

The girl immediately looked up to find the boy leaning on the memorial smirking at her. His eyes had changed to a completely different color. The stuffed animal had also opened it's eyes and spread it's bat winged ears.

"I made a promise to give you that device you're holding, and to meet that digimon in your lap," he waved his hand

The look of shock on her face quickly melted to one of fascination. That caught the boy by surprise. His smirk turned into a small smile, realizing that his little play didn't hit it's mark. The small monster flew off the boys head and landed on the girl's.

"I didn't think you'd be this excited," he watched as she pulled Tsukaimon into her lap along with Tailmon. He didn't know here to begin, because he expected her to start asking questions. "I'm guessing you want to know," he regained her full attention, "about those monsters. Where they come from, and how they came to be. It's related to these children on the memorial."

The girl's grip on the digimon tightened as she thought about her brother. It was something she had always wondered about, much like these monsters. She had always been able to see them, so actually getting to touch one was amazing. However, she could also feel deep inside of her, that hearing the boy's story would be… difficult.

The girl looked down at the two cute creatures in her lap. Their eyes were so clear that she felt warmth wash over her. "I'd like to know, please," she answered.

"Right…" the boy cleared his throat to being, but was stopped in his tracks.

"Um… I haven't gotten your name," The girl pointed out.

"That's right. I'm Takaishi, Takeru Takaishi," he introduced. He could easily see the confusion on the girl's face; his family name wouldn't have been on the plaque. Even though he already knew the answer, "and your name?"

He didn't leave her time to ask questions anymore, "Hikari Yagami," she blurted out.

"Well then, Hikari, listen up, because this is going be take a while." Then boy then retold his adventures in the digital world for the first time.

* * *

 **AN: Another story finished. This shouldn't have taken as long as it did to come out. Not just it's length but I've also had most of it done for a while. In the mean time I just changed the smallest of bits around.  
**

 **The final fight was down played this time. Fighting was never the point of this fic, so I guess it's fine in the long run. The** **Apocalymon angle was chosen because I needed and antagonist that all of them from different dimensions could face for the first time.** **PicoDevimon was a good tool to connect all of the children to get to that conclusion.  
**

 **I always thought of going back to Takeru's character for this story but not his back story. Thinking on it more, it wouldn't float well if everyone else had there stories partially fleshed out while Takeru's held the most mystery.**

 **Speaking of mystery, this sort of turned into one unintentionally. That's what I get for trying to be sneaky and only give information away bit by bit. However I don't really think that makes a mystery on it's own. You need a big revelation along with revealing your intentions in pieces. It's not just holding back information but letting the readers be able to figure things out on their own. Hikari, Ken, and Takeru were the strong pieces of this puzzle.**

 **The epilogue was pretty last minute. I needed to show how this mini adventure affected everyone. It'll also setup some side stories I'll get to.**

 **While this story took way to long to finish for how short it is and how long I've basically had it finished and just sitting on my computer; where finished. I hoped you enjoyed it and will leave a review, comment; anything you'd like. I thank you for your time.**


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